Bradley Johnson

[nutty nigel 7,513]

The guy''s been terrific so far this season. Mind you he''s been one of our best every season since he joined. He seems very happy here with us even though he was apparently the player who other clubs showed most interest in over the summer.

 

http://www.canaries.co.uk/news/article/20140908-bradley-johnson-quotes-1903095.aspx

 

“It’s good celebrating goals – I like scoring and it’s not very often that I do score, so when I do I like to celebrate. It was the meaning of that goal too, all of the lads went over to the corner and we celebrated together.”

 

He celebrated that goal right in front of my grandson. Awesome slide and celebration. Happy days!

 

 

[mrs miggins 0]

posted in quick succession, but my opinion is that he''s a good player to have on a premiership teams bench, but nowhere near a regular. Will be good this season in the championship though, yet personally I can''t wait for Tettey and Howson to play together

[Bill 1,788]

does beg the question of how much effect can a manager or the coaching staff have on a playerJohnson has certainly thrived, as has Hoolahanwhich then raises the questionwhy not Becchio and Bassong ?

[Jacko 0]

I remember reading a couple of reports in which he allegedly turned down a move to Burnley in the summer in favour of staying with Norwich. I think that''s a very shrewd move as I honestly can''t see Burnley (as much as I respect them) lasting more than a season in the Premiership.

City 1st raises the point about whether we can hope to see the same improvement from Bassong and Becchio. I think unfortunately they are entirely different scenarios to both Hoolahan and Johnson

Whilst we are not privy to what goes on in the dressing room you would suspect that Bassong''s issue is that he no longer has any interest in playing for Norwich. He ultimately came to Nowich because he had worked with Chris Hughton before. Now Hughton and Premier League football have gone, clearly his motivations for coming have disappeared. Whether they''d both still be here if Bassong had performed better last season is an argument for another day.

As for Becchio, again I have barely seen the bloke play and I haven''t watched him train. However, when I have seen him play first team football (very rarely) or U21 football I have seen little to suggest he warrants a run in the first team. It''s all interesting that two separate managers have now also not deemed him worthy of an extended run in the side.

It''s also interesting that only Rotherham appear to have come in for Becchio, we''ve already shown with the Pilkington deal that we aren''t adverse to dealing with potential promotion rivals this year.

However, the Becchio transfer remains one of the most bizarre pieces of business Norwich have done in recent years. It has been compounded by our decision to hang onto him when we have clearly had no intention of playing him.

[GJP 79]

Johnson is one of those players I find difficult to criticise because there''s the feeling he pretty much always give it his best shot. And I like players who put a shift in for Norwich City - even if they''re rubbish.

 

I think Johnson has been alright so far but I don''t think he''s been great. Started high but his performances have dropped a bit. That''s not to say he''s been bad because he hasn''t. He''s done well enough.

 

Johnson has the glory of two nicely taken goals but Tettey is the driving force in the midfield at the moment - no doubt about it.

 

I don''t think there''s an urgent need to change the central midfield but if you did want to do it I think Johnson would be the one to look at.

 

 

[Bill 1,788]

"City 1st raises the point about whether we can hope to see the same

improvement from Bassong and Becchio. I think unfortunately they are

entirely different scenarios to both Hoolahan and Johnson"I didn''t actually state that.I merely questioned why was it possible to ''rejuvenate'' the former two and not the latter two. It was not a hope.Bassongs problem (not isshoooo) goes back much further. Clearly he had fall out with Hughton and/or the club some while back. It would appear now that Hhughton has gone that it must have been the club, and so cannot be attributed to us not being in the PL either.Seeing what has been done previously with both Ruddy and Turner who were villified by many (me included) when the first played but have developed into two of our better players does beg the question of why not the two ''B''s'' ?Off field problems with one and who knows what with the other.

[Jacko 0]

However you want to package it I don''t think it is possible to rejuvenate/reintegrate Bassong for the simple reason that he doesn''t want to be here. Ultimately, we''re all guessing and speculating as to why that is. But addressing your points in turn:

I don''t quite understand your reasoning that Bassong fell out with Hughton/and the club. Bassong signed a new contract in December 2013 and he was an automatic selection under Hughton. If you are very unhappy a club the last thing you want to be doing is pledging your long term future to them surely? As a manager if you strongly dislike a player do you make them an automatic selection regardless of form?

The fact we''re no longer in the Premier League I think is also very relevant to him no longer wanting to be here. Let''s get real here most players do not sign to play for Norwich City. Most of them cite that they are looking forward to playing in the Premier League. So often after a club drops out of the Premier League they look to move on as Fer and Snodgrass have done. Tettey also expressed disappointed that a bid from Sunderland was knocked back in the summer. Whether anyone would actually want Bassong is another argument again.

The logical tipping point would have been Hughton''s sacking as Bassong went from being an automatic pick to not featuring whatsoever. I don''t know why that is. Although allegedly he was very condescending towards Adams when he initially took over on the grounds that he had no prior 1st team management experienced. We don''t know if it''s true although given that Gutierrez publicly criticised Adams for a lack of experience on twitter it is very plausible.

[Salopian 1]

I suspect that the coaching staff have been concentrating on shooting in the past two months. Certainly Redders doesn''t blast it as high as he did. The same applies to Johnners - two excellent goals, precisely directed just inside the far post. It seems that the midfielder now shoots with purpose, rather than blasting as hard as he can. He seems to be passing more accurately, as well. There was a time last season when he seemed to be playing to instructions, "Pass it just a few yards to Howson!"

So his technique seems to be improving. I hope it continues, and with O-O and Tettey, we could benefit from midfielder goals to reinforce anything the strikers can do.

Well done, Bradley, keep playing as you are. You are a real asset.

[Duncan Edwards 2,223]

I have a suspicion that perhaps Johnno hasn''t "improved" as much as some are claiming and that he simply looks far better against this slightly lower level of opponent.

Whatever it is, I have no complaints, he has been (along with Tettey) superb so far this season.